Beijing Hotels: Nearby Yaxuan Handicraft Shop

Visiting the Forbidden City during your stay in Beijing is definitely a must. If you get out of it from the eastern gate, and turn right at the first street on your right side, you will find a small handicraft shop waiting for you. You can't miss it, as there is a red sign above the entrance that reads ‘Chinese Folk Handicraft'.

You can find various small handicrafts with strong, traditional Chinese characteristics there, such as paper-cuts, dough figurines, painted small gourds, and tiger-head baby shoes. All of them are ideal for presents or souvenirs.

The most impressive items to me were miniature Peking opera facial masks. Among which my favorite was a small gift box contains four pieces of the masks. They represent the four main characters from ‘Journey to the West', classic in Chinese literature. Among them, I especially like the Monkey King, whose face features a red, peach-like pattern in the center. That's because peach is the Monkey King's favorite food. Very cheap too. The set cost less than 5 dollars.